The Prime Minister will use an emergency Commons debate to set out plans to ensure that people have confidence in the justice system. He will say that severe punishments will be meted out to those responsible for the destruction and robbery of the past five days.

He backs plans to ensure that council tenants found guilty of taking part in the mayhem will be evicted. Ministers are redrafting consultation documents to ensure that councils get those powers. Some councils, including Greenwich and Hammersmith and Fulham in London and Salford in Manchester, announced yesterday that they were already pushing ahead with the measure.

Grant Shapps, the housing minister, was tightening the law to make sure that even if a rioter was convicted of a crime outside their borough they could lose their council home — something that is not possible at the moment.

“Criminal or anti-social behaviour in the local neighbourhood by a tenant or a member of their family can provide grounds for eviction,” he said. “The Government is looking to strengthen those powers and so anyone involved in the unrest should stop and think about the long-term impact that their actions will have on the rest of their lives.”

Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is considering amending the Welfare Reform Bill currently going through Parliament to ensure that rioters have their benefits cut.

A source said: “If anyone is convicted and sentenced to prison over their crimes they automatically lose their benefit. However, we are very sympathetic to looking at whether those people involved and causing trouble but not ultimately convicted can be targeted too.”

Mr Cameron suggested yesterday that the measures would focus on those who felt they were entitled to something for nothing. “It is a complete lack of responsibility in our society,” he said. “People allowed to feel that the world owes them something, that their rights outweigh their responsibilities, and that their actions do not have consequences. Well they do have consequences.”

The Commons is likely to hold a formal debate on stripping convicted rioters of welfare benefits, a sanction backed by almost 80,000 people on a petition on the Government website. “No taxpayer should have to contribute to those who have destroyed property, stolen from their community and shown a disregard for the country that provides for them,” says the petition.

Downing Street is worried about the perception that many rioters will escape serious punishment because they are being sentenced for a first offence. At yesterday’s meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, Mr Cameron asked the Ministry of Justice to give “reassurance” on sentencing rules for first-time offenders to ensure that those convicted could face substantial penalties.

Tory backbenchers want courts to be told to impose tough sentences on convicted rioters. “We need to send a message to the courts that we expect them to hand down very severe sentences,” said James Clappison, a member of the home affairs committee. “The starting point for any involvement in rioting should be a custodial sentence.”

Mark Reckless, another Conservative member of the committee, said sentencing guidelines should be changed to give judges more discretion to jail first-time offenders.

Priti Patel, a Tory backbencher, backed calls to cut benefits for offenders. “There is a group of people who think they can just take what they want without consequences,” she said. “We have to have a system of rights and responsibilities. That means draconian penalties, including for people on benefits.”